Nationwide, sober drivers are arrested for drunk driving

HAYWOOD COUNTY, Tenn. (WSMV) – Just moments after beginning his field sobriety test last November, Henry Esslinger told state troopers he wanted to stop.

Body camera footage from his arrest shows on November 23, 2023, Esslinger explains why.

“I feel very dizzy. Not very good. Full of adrenaline after an accident,” Esslinger said in the video.

Esslinger tells police in the video that he doesn't know why his brakes failed and his truck crashed into a tractor-trailer.

He initially agrees to undergo a sobriety test after the police notice that he has slurred speech and glassy eyes.

But after a horizontal gaze assessment, Esslinger said he would rather have his blood tested to prove he was sober.

“I feel very shaky from the adrenaline at the moment,” he said.

“Are you willing to donate blood?” asks a soldier.

“Yes, I will donate blood, I will take a breathalyzer test, I will do anything,” Esslinger replies. “Man, I haven’t had anything to drink.”

After Esslinger was taken to a hospital by ambulance, his blood was drawn and he was immediately arrested for drunk driving.

Esslinger's TBI blood test results later showed that he was completely sober at the time of his arrest.

“What’s it like to be accused of a crime you didn’t commit?” WSMV4 Investigates asked.

“It doesn’t feel good at all,” said Esslinger.

But unlike the other cases uncovered by WSMV4 Investigates in which sober drivers were arrested for drunk driving in Middle Tennessee, Esslinger was arrested in West Tennessee, in Haywood County near Memphis.

A recent WSMV4 investigation found that between 2017 and 2023, 609 people were arrested for drunk driving in Tennessee whose blood tests showed no alcohol or drugs.

WSMV4 Investigates continues to find drivers in and outside of Middle Tennessee who knew they were innocent but ended up in jail anyway.

On August 9, 2019, Reid Hawley and his wife were returning from dinner when he was stopped for a DUI stop in Sevier County near Knoxville.

Hawley admitted that he had a drink with dinner but also ate something.

A state trooper documented in Hawley's arrest report that he exhibited several signs of impairment and performed poorly on the field sobriety test.

Hawley said he received a breathalyzer test and remembered seeing the printout of his results. “The bottom line was that it was just zeros. And (the soldier) showed it to me and it was all zeros. And I said, 'Oh, really, do you think you want to let me go now?' And he said, 'No, you're under the influence of something.'”

Five months later, Hawley's blood test showed he had prescribed medications in his system, but no illegal drugs.

Hawley said he had to pay his attorney more than $7,000 when the charges were dismissed and he learned he would also have to pay court costs. “I paid the employee another $350. The soldier and another soldier just stood there and I said, “Are you happy now?” I said, “Did you see what you did, what it cost me?” Will you reimburse me, will the state reimburse me?' He just snubbed me, looked at me like trash and walked down the hall.”

Nate Collins can feel sorry. He was also stopped as part of a DUI stop in Marion County, outside Chattanooga, in 2023.

Collins said he misunderstood a police officer's movements and sped up when he should have slowed down.

He agreed to take a field sobriety test, but said he was so nervous that he performed poorly.

Collins was arrested for drunk driving and possession of a handgun.

“It was terrifying. I thought it was so surreal knowing I was innocent,” Colins said.

“What did getting that drunk driving charge do to your life?” asked WSMV4 Investigates.

“I didn’t make it to graduate school. They couldn't tell me why for legal reasons, but I believe I had a drunkenness charge pending against me,” Collins said.

Like the others, Collins' blood tests showed he had no drugs or alcohol in his system. WSMV4 Investigates told him about TBI data showing he was among the 609 people charged with drunk driving who were sober.

“It still devastated me. I'm still working on that. And I believe 608 other people have been through this? Maybe not having the resources I had? If I’m honest, I could cry thinking about it right now,” Collins said.

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